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Ed 714 Qualitative Research Methods
Spring 2003
Copyright - Antonia D'Onofrio - 2001/2002/2003
 

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Introduction
 
 

Maevis Miller has begun a line of educational research that will redirect her interests toward the use of qualitative methodologies.  Specifically she has become very active in her department's new initiatives with Professional Development Schools (PDS).

 

The model of student teacher supervision that has been adopted is consistent with literature that encourages professional development through the use of Michael's Schon's strategies of the reflective practitioner.  A supervision model that subscribes to reflective practitioner strategies is one that integrates classroom practice with professional seminars.  The entire community of professionals at the local elementary school will be involved.  Seminars will be conducted at the school with master teachers, the principal, the cooperating teachers for individual pre service student teachers, the education department supervisors, and of course all the student teachers placed at the PDS.

 

What distinguishes the approach toward supervision is the extent to which active learning about the profession of teaching is encouraged.  During seminars student teachers present their journals for group discussion.  Members of the seminars role play solutions to problems that occurred during the week.  Some seminars are small, involving only a student teacher and perhaps the coop and another classroom teacher.  Some are large seminars involving nearly all of those who are part of the project.  Sometimes only the student teacher/coop dyad represents the way problem solving will occur.

 

The ultimate aim of this approach is to empower student teachers to reflect and analyze, experiment and learn from the experiences of others, and to benefit from the total pool of professionals who are part of the "learning community."

 

Maevis Miller sees qualitative research and its constituent methodologies as very well suited to the study of this project.  During the semester you should develop a growing sense of why this is probably so.

 

Week 1
 

Dr. Miller has explored a number of the assumptions that frequently describe qualitative research as a tradition.  Her are some of the understandings that she brings to her task.

 

To begin with she is herself a former elementary school teacher not unlike many professors of education.  She has researched the topic of professional development and teacher supervision for nearly 15 years and published many studies in this area.  Dr. Miller is acutely aware that trends in the supervision of professional educators has become more focused on proactive aspects of professional practice.  For example, applicants who are new to the profession of teaching are often screened, not only for their academic credentials, but also for evidence that they can plan, work in teams, collaborate in school problems solving, communicate with parents, adapt tried methods to new technologies, in other words participate actively and productively in a community of professionals.  The old models of supervision that examined "the constituent elements of teaching" and that used checklists were no longer as useful as once was the case.

 

Dr. Miller's personal experience thus serves as a kind of lens through which she views her task before she even begins.  To be sure these represent professional biases.  But should she rid herself of her perspectives?  Is it really possible for Dr. Miller to enter the project pretending that she is completely devoid of experiences and knowledge.  Probably not.  Thus Dr. Miller's initial stance in relation to her problem already demonstrates how the researcher is the primary instrument.  Everything she witnesses and hears and all the documentation that she will collect will be filtered by the person she is and the professional that she has become.

 

It is precisely because she brings a professional lifetime of experience and knowledge that Dr. Miller will also  need to establish some structure in her endeavors to study supervision at the PDS.  She has a lot of information in her head, she also has read widely.  Dr. Miller has the benefit (and perhaps biases) of experience.  She  has access to the knowledge and expertise of fellow researchers, as well as the field based knowledge of teachers in the field.  She know the literature in this area.  Dr. Miller will eventually develop a conceptual model to organize this information.  And very importantly, to put her assumptions going into the project on the table so to speak.  She will include her assumptions, so that eventually she will be able to contrast what she believes to what evidence will tell her.

 

Dr. Miller's concern for objectivity is not insignificant.  However, she expects to be investigating many dimensions of human experience:  The beliefs of others, their hopes and expectations, disappointments and failures, school traditions and norms, friendships and collegial ties, collaborative relationships, and much more.  All of these areas of school life are key to understanding the development of a professional teacher yet none of them are without human content.  In other words, if Dr. Miller is to look at the care and nurturing of a reflective practitioner, then she will be examining human bias.  Moreover, her presence in the school, as one who has been a classroom teacher, cannot help but have an influence on the way others respond to her.  She is both insider and outsider.  She can be trusted to understand;  yet there will be much that needs explanation.  Can Dr. Miller's understanding of objectivity be one that seeks to remove her influence from the study?  It is more likely that Dr. Miller's view of objectivity is one that seeks balance and credibility.

 

What then are some of the decisions that Dr. Miller will have to make about her research plan if her work is to be credible?  To begin with she must retain the sense that humans inhabit the terrain of her investigation.  The detail, the nuance, the subjective implications, the texture of human relationships, the content of of those relationships, the ways in which everyone is connected to the school, to the idea of school, to one another-- these have to be part of the final product  Dr. Miller will also have to sample people, events and artifacts judiciously.  She will need to establish the credibility of the evidence people present to her.  She will need to use techniques of information gathering that capture the meaning of professional interactions accurately.  She will have to understand her own choices of technique and the quality of the information itself.  Dr. Miller will have to become a detective of sorts if she is to tell a story that rings true.

 

The problem of retaining the quality of subjectivity while at the same time achieving objectivity (balance and accuracy) is a perennial challenge to researchers, Dr. Miller among them.  This problem has been addressed by many of the most highly esteemed researchers in anthropology and education.  Two notable authors are Harry Wolcott and Clifford Geertz.  You will read an interview of Dr. Geertz on this very topic.

I will present an overview of the thinking of Dr. Wolcott on this issue in class.

 

Harry Wolcott speaks of the art of conceptual self defense as an overall perspective on the problem.  Aware of his work, Dr. Miller begins her planning well aware of Wolcott's recommendations.  She begins with concerns about how she will avoid a study that is superficial, that belabors the obvious, that arrives at self serving findings, that is unethical or that fails to adapt technique to the opportunities that will present themselves to her spontaneously in the school setting.  Wolcott likens research to mind work  He points out that objectivity in research is not achieved by a mindless researcher.  Yet what is in the mind of the researcher lends perspective and focus.  "There is no research without a researcher."  Dr. Miller notes that bias is like "air."  In the school setting she will breathe it-- or there is no study.  So how will she retain her neutrality and balance.

 

It is through the development of a conceptual model that Dr. Miller will take her first steps toward mining  the human quality of human experience while retaining her researcher's demeanor of integrity and intellectual curiosity.  A conceptual model is a working theory of the research problem, the setting and how to explore it.  Why begin with a theory.  A theory lends focus and guides one in terms of questions to ask and data that will answer the questions.  Thus a working theory makes one's investigation more systematic.  But more!  Working theories have additional advantages.  They lend focus to aspects of problems that prior research may have ignored.  And they, in Wolcott's words, "harness the power of disproof."  A sound theory is one that also entertains evidence that stands to disprove our starting assumptions.

 

Week 3
 

The class notes for week 3, as well as the Internet readings, contain a number of rich resources for understanding the subject of grounded theory, the topic for this week.  As you read them consider how Dr. Miller would be likely to adapt these resources to her own work.

 

Grounded theory is not a theory about anything.  It is a theory about how to do research.  Grounded theory shares many characteristics with ethnography, the methods that define the discipline of anthropology, as well as characteristics of case study methods, linguistic and hermeneutic strategy, and many other branches of qualitative research.

 

Grounded theory is the focus of this course because it has advantages for applied research, particularly when it is used by practitioners, for example, educational researchers.

 

There are several types of advantages.  Grounded theory can be used in a time limited way, so that Dr. Miller can complete a credible study without spending 2 or more years in the PDS.  Of course she may decide that she will want to spend 2 years or more if new questions emerge that she wants to answer.

 

Another advantage comes from the use of the working theory approach favored by Wolcott.  Most qualitative research follows the strategies of pure induction.  Information is continuously collected, continuously analyzed and studied.  Over time patterns of information begin to surface.  These patterns are expected to change as new insights are gained.  Although this inductive process of understanding is also an attribute of grounded theory, Dr. Miller will put a framework around the ongoing process of induction so that boundaries are established for her investigation.  This makes her investigation more manageable.

 

A final advantage results from the starting point of grounded theory.  Once a problem is identified, the grounded theorist asks, "Is there a setting where I can study this problem in detail and will I have access to it?"

The grounded theorist avoids the problem of the anthropologist who visited a Pacific Island with a plan to study indigenous beliefs in magic and witchcraft, only to find out that the people who lived on the island didn't believe in magic and witchcraft.  Grounded theory starts on the ground.  Dr. Miller knows that she can investigate reflective practice in the supervision of student teachers in a PDS.  Given this research  problem, she can try to understand how it is experienced in context in a real place by real individuals.

 

Now that Dr. Miller has begun the task of developing her conceptual model, she is fully aware of the personal assumptions that she brings to the study.  How does she build checks and balances into her work so that she can use assumptions as a starting point, and eventually examine her data carefully, deciding which of her assumptions may need to be abandoned or revised?

Much control will come from her investment in disciplined techniques.  What should she be thinking about?
 

• Systematic observation, that considers both individuals and her interaction with them
• Varied approaches to observation and varied recording techniques
• The use of informants who understand cultural norms and culturally specific uses of language
• Thoughtful design of interviews, and pre testing interviews
• Systematic interviewing that explores the limits of cultural experience by checking researcher conclusions against local belief systems, informant judgment, saturation, and consensus
• Accurate coding and recording systems
• Use of sources and resources from related research projects
• Understanding sampling methods
• Exploratory study  of the problem


And what about the possibility that she will become emotionally involved in her research subjects, or that they will lie or misrepresent, deliberately or innocently, their true situation?  This is a topic that Dr. Miller will take up when she begins planning interview strategies.

Dr. Miller is ready to plan her interviews.  Because she has read Marshall and Rossman and has found their approach to conceptual modeling in the past, she begins there.  Dr. Miller has already subdivided the information that she will use as her starting point into three parts.  These are:  (1) personal knowledge;  (2) professional knowledge of experts and practitioners;  (3) empirical and theoretical knowledge as it exists in the academic literature.

 

What is each of these knowledge bases likely to include.  Dr. Miller's personal knowledge consists of her own lengthy experience and study of professional development and supervision.  She has kept an evolving outline of evolving issues, findings and practices.  She also has access to field based experts and practitioners.  Dr. Miller has decided that before she nails down interview topics, she will spend some time interacting and meeting with cooperating teachers and the principal in the PDS, and supervisors in the school district.  She will explore their experiences regarding reflective practice and learning communities.  Then she will summarize recurring issues that they have shared with her.  She also has a growing library of resources from scholarly journals and related outlets of information.  These she systematically analyzes and she keeps a working record of issues and new directions that are delineated in these sources.

 

Dr. Miller's plan is to compare all this information in a systematic way.  What is she looking for?  She is looking for common themes and patterns-- issues that seem to be shared in all three knowledge bases.  She is also looking for unique concerns-- issues that seem to define one area but are neglected in the other two.  Once Dr. Miller has completed this work, she can take a step back and ask herself if she can spot a core concern that embraces all the themes, both shared and unique.

 

Perhaps a core concern is something like ownership of collegial ties.  Perhaps this is something that all agree is crucial to the development of a reflective practitioner and difficult to teach a new teacher.  This will be the starting point for her interview plan.

 

Dr. Miller has found a core concept that is so critical to achieving focus in an interview.  She will probably go back to the teachers, the principal and the supervisors and will test the waters with them.  Do they agree that much of their experience has indicated that ownership of collegial ties, and all that that implies, is a key element in becoming a responsible professional educator?  What is their understanding of what promotes ownership and what hinders new teachers from developing this quality?  Her discussions will engender yet even more questions.  Evolving questions that round out the concept of ownership of collegial ties need to be the basis for her interview plan.

 

The text and Internet readings include much information about the mechanics of interviewing.  When you read them try to imagine how Dr. Miller might use some of the information found there.

 

However, there are significant psychological components to field based interviews that Dr. Miller is aware of.  She needs of course to be courteous and should demonstrate common sense as she conducts interviews.  This means that she may want to modify a question or her questioning approach if the context suggest she should.  She also needs to be opportunistic.  This means that Dr. Miller should be self reflective and continually monitor her own thinking during an interview.  She needs to ask whether she is getting the information that she intended to find and is making good use of the interview.

 

There are additional criteria that Dr. Miller will be mindful of.

 

Will she talk less and listen more?

Will she view the interview as a creative opportunity?

Will she make good use of informants?

Will she decide on the type of interview she may want to use?  She can vary her interview methods.

Will she decide how formal or informal she will need to be?

Will she keep her questions short?

Will she limit her use of probes to a few important issues/

Will she write up her interview impressions while the interview is fresh in her mind?

Will she search for patterns in responses?

Dr. Miller, not unlike many accomplished people, is self critical.  Naturally she wants to be certain that she has done credible work in the design of her interviews and in the way she will carry them out.  Again, text, Internet and class resources will cover specific concerns of sound research design.  However, here are some keys.  Dr. Miller will try to be mindful of these guidelines.

• Try to understand setting, context and culture for its own sake.  What patterns emerge and practices appear to define an individual's connection to group evolved over time because members of the setting, context or culture at some point in time perceived value in them.  Try to discover what that value is.  Try to understand how it evolved.
• Try to identify patterns that can be generalized across setting, context and culture.  But do not forget to discover what is unique to a particular setting, and what is unique about individuals within a setting.  To do otherwise is to stereotype.
• Share findings with peers and query them.  Do they see what you see?  Or do they see things differently?
• Share findings with those whom you interviewed.  Do they see themselves in the picture you have painted?  Does your story ring true?
• Determine whether any pattern is confirmed by other patterns.  Does the evidence fit together?

Dr. Miller understands that her field work has elements of art in addition to those of craft and science.  In a sense the net result of her work will be to hold a mirror up to the setting.  The image will reflect the setting, its inhabitants, and the ways in which they are tied to each other and to the setting itself.  Although you have probably guessed that intuition plays an important role, nonetheless, the image Dr. Miller reflects must be both accurate as well as a meaningful.  How does she achieve that balance between accuracy and social significance?

 

Think of a portrait as a metaphor for what she must do.  Dr. Miller must capture the uniqueness of individuals, the reality of their situation, the physical attributes of persons and spaces.  She must also understand this reality will not surface through slavish rendering of information.  Dr. Miller will have to find ways to represent how people are connected in meaningful ways.  This is done by deciding upon

focus, point of view, and level of detail.  Details, activities and events, emotions, and language must be placed into context.

Understanding the experience of people in context requires more than interview.  It requires Dr. Miller to be present in the context itself.  Participant observation is a methodology that engages researcher with setting.

 

Dr. Miller has decided to spend at least one day a week in the PDS.  There she will interact with cooperating teachers and student teachers.  She will attend meetings of the faculty.  She will also be part of the learning seminars that are part of the PDS program.

 

Once she is accepted as a partner in the PDS endeavor, perhaps she will even be asked to take a lead role in a seminar or two.  That assumes Dr. Miller gains acceptance by the school community.

 

Already teachers at the school are inquiring about her level of participation.  Is Dr. Miller there to observe them?  What is the purpose of her study?  Why can't she just use questionnaires?

Will she be distracting children?  How do they know that she won't report a teacher's mistake here or there to the principal?

 

These are normal concerns.  But are they not also important clues?  By studying early transactions between researcher and setting, Dr. Miller can learn much about the context and how it is organized culturally.

 

On a more practical plane, if Dr. Miller is going to spend one day a week in the PDS, then what will she be doing for five or six hours?  Should she not have a plan, one that she has previewed with PDS insiders, so that she will make active and productive use of her time?  What should that plan be about?

 

Week 9
 

The text and Internet readings, and the class activities, will explore participant observation in a systematic way.  Dr. Miller assuredly will be keenly aware of the need for well design participant strategies.

• She also needs to have guiding principles so that she is conceptually focused on her task.
• Focus on what you are observing, not on what you cannot see.  It's impossible.
• Take notes on yourself.
• Review your observations.  If you seem to be missing important elements, perhaps you are using the wrong approach.
• Participate more.  You don't need a clipboard.
• Connect language to action and conversation to setting.
• Search for the telling details
• Create record keeping systems that are flexible enough to integrate as well as record information.
• Remember that information is both verbal and nonverbal.

Week 10
 

One goal of Dr. Miller's investigation will be to write a scholarly paper about her experience.  Are some approaches more convincing than others?

 

You will recall that Dr. Miller began with a conceptual model.  She sorted through her varied sources of prior knowledge.  Then Dr. Miller looked for patterns that could be described as fundamental concepts, ideas that surfaced again and again from preliminary understanding.  Dr. Miller next searched for and found a key concept, ownership of collegial ties.  She designed a study that was aimed at gathering many types of evidence, much of it in the form of field notes and interview transcripts.  Dr. Miller's research strategy was focused by her conceptual model.  How will she now make sense of all the information?

 

Dr. Miller needs a way of breaking her notes and transcripts down into patterns and categories.  This process of analysis is termed content analysis.   She will eventually compare the patterns she finds in the notes and transcripts to the patterns she began with.  Content analysis is a systematic way of evaluating whether evidence as it is given yields meaning that is consistent with a researcher's initial understanding.

 

Is this not a form of hypothesis testing?

References
 

Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B.(1995). Designing qualitative research (second edition).  Sage:  Thousand Oaks, CA.
 

Wolcott, H.F. (1995).  The art of fieldwork.  Altamira Press:  Walnut Creek, CA.